Starry night
by grandvizier527
Summary: In this one-shot, the Titan crew have a quiet moment stargazing. Based on a drawing I saw on Devianart. It was so good, I had to make a story behind it!


Starry night

K

Based on artwork made by SAIYA-STORY (some girl on Deviant Art)

Night fell on the city of Sherman, Illinois. Ilana was sitting in her room, looking at the stars. They looked so different from the ones back home. Ilana heard from Jason that the people on this planet, long ago, thought that groups of stars were meant to represent images, like a lion, or a dragon, or a scorpion. Jason called them "constellations".

"Good night, Ilana!" Lance said to her as he walked by her room.

"Good night," she replied, not bothering to look up at him. She just continued staring at the window, observing the stars. Lance thought it would be best not to bother her...

Ilana had never bothered to look up at the stars at home much. She now regretted not doing so. She could make comparisons between the stars here and the ones visible back home, and tell Octus and Lance about it. If Octus stored what she had said about the night sky in his memory banks, and made some observations for himself, they could share it with everyone back home. Like her father...

Ilana's thoughts about the stars on Galaluna led to her thoughts of home. Sometimes she wondered when they would return. Was everything still the same? Ilana knew that the answer was most likely no. But she still clung on to the hope that everything would be all right. Ilana stared out at the stars again. For some reason, they gave her a lot of comfort. Hoping to get a closer look, she walked outside. The stars illuminated everything, but the lights of the city seemed to drown them out. Ilana turned on her armor and flew a long way, finally stopping at a field...

"Lance, wake up!" Octus called.

"Waa...?" Lance could barely open his tired eyes. He had fallen asleep earlier than usual. "What do want, Octus?" He said, yawning. He reluctantly climbed out of bed clad only in a pair of boxers, like he always did when he slept. "What happened that's important?"

"Ilana has activated her armor and left the house."

"WHAT?!" Lance screamed. He quickly got dressed in his usual purplish-blue shirt and jeans, and headed out the door, turning on his armor, barely waiting for Octus to join him.

"Come on! We gotta hurry!" He cried as he and Octus flew off, with Octus leading the way.

"Her vitals are normal, and the Rift Gate hasn't opened. So is there is no reason for her disappearance," Octus said as they approached the field where Ilana's armor's signal had last been indicated. "After she arrived here, she deactivated her armor," Octus continued as they touched down. "Why did she disappear? It defies explanation," Octus said.

Suddenly, Lance realized what had happened. "She couldn't have been kidnapped so easily...Octus?"

"Yes?"

"I...I think she ran away."

"Why?" Octus asked. "And why here?" He said as they started their search for her. "This place has no significance."

"That's where you're wrong, Octus. She ran away here for a reason. I think I know why," he said as he ran off to a tall hill that rose up from the edge of the field.

"Wait, where are you going? And why did Ilana go this way?" he asked as followed Lance up the hill.

"Because..." Lance said as he and Octus got to the top of the hill, where Ilana was sitting.

"I wanted to look at the stars from here," she said, turning to face her worried guardians.

"Ilana? Why did you come here in the middle of the night?" Octus asked, still puzzled by all this.

"Ilana, don't ever run off like that again. You had us worried!" Lance said, irritated.

Ilana turned her head back up at the sky. "I'm sorry. I just...These stars are so beautiful...they...remind me of home." Lance's face softened as she said this.

Lance said nothing as he sat down so he could see her at eye level. At first, earlier that night, he just thought Ilana enjoyed looking at them because he recalled her mentioning something about Jason knowing a lot about it. Now he realized that the reason for her stargazing was much deeper than he thought. He squatted down at her level, so he could see her face looking up at the stars. Lance didn't really pay much attention to them right now. He found himself more transfixed on the princess' face. Warm, yet anxious. He watched her and the sky in silence. Minutes passed, and he noticed Ilana's features beginning to relax.

"Do want me to go?" Lance asked, his tone softening. "If you want to be alone, I underst-"

"No," Ilana interrupted. "I want you to look at them with me."

"Why do you want me with you?"

"Because," Ilana said, facing him once more, "You're a part of home, just like the stars are," she replied. "And I want you to remember where we came from. Never forget your Galalunan heritage, Lance. Just look with me to see what I mean."

Lance sat down with his princess, reclining just to the right of her. They stared up at the night sky of Earth, absorbing its beauty. Octus didn't understand what the purpose of this was, but he assumed it had a psychological function. Octus turned on his Newton hologram as he sat on Ilana's right. He figured she'd be more comfortable lying next to someone with a more humanoid appearance.

"You're right, Ilana," Lance said, "They are beautiful."

They stared up at the stars in silence, observing the size and brightness of each one. Octus recorded a video feed of everything that they saw. He could have simply taken photos, but he felt that whatever was to be said tonight would have to be remembered forever.

Silence reigned for the next 10 minutes. Then, Ilana bolted upright. "Look!" She said. "Those three stars. They look just like the three moons of Galaluna, see?"

"Yeah, I see it!" Lance looked up at the stars that Ilana was pointing at. He saw a trio of stars, arranged in positions similar to those of the moons of Galaluna. But what was the bright, glowing object in the center?

"What's that in the middle?" He asked.

Octus had been scanning the object they had been observing. In seconds, he had found data which indicated an interesting find on Ilana's part.

"Ilana, Lance. You won't believe this."

"What?" They both asked eagerly.

"The group of celestial objects you are looking at...that is indeed Galaluna, and its three moons."

"But...I thought you told us that Galaluna was too far off to be seen by the human eye, from here" said Lance.

"Apparently, I had made a miscalculation. It seems to be in perfect view of Earth's astronomers and telescopes, but it seems that only we seem to be able to see it. How odd."

"Well, actually, Jason saw something that looked just like this," Ilana recalled. "But he didn't know what it was. I didn't see the resemblance, either, at the time."

"It looks like we'll be the only ones that know what it is, then," Lance replied.

"Wow," Ilana said. "It's like someone put those stars right there, just for us, so that we wouldn't lose sight of home..."

"Perhaps," Octus said. "It is quite intriguing. But according to my new analysis, I made an error in concluding that Galaluna could not be seen by the human eye from here. On closer inspection, I now theorize that, with Jason being an exception, it cannot be seen by an Earthling's eyes. But it can be easily seen through a Galalunan's eyes. The reason for this is unknown."

Lance and Ilana lay down on the grassy hill and held hands.

"It's like we're getting a glimpse of home," he said. "Neat, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Ilana agreed. "It looks like Galaluna isn't so far away, after all," she said. "...And, one day, we'll go back home..."

And the three of them kept looking at stars, their beauty luring each one of them to sleep...

They didn't return home until the next morning.

**Author's note: That one piece of artwork was so nice that I felt I had to write a fanfic about it! It's no episode, but I think it's a nice anyway. Thanks for making it if you ever read this, Saiya-story!**


End file.
